Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes was the last “amanuensis” of the “Manuscript Bible” that involved the whole of Portugal from 5 to 21 November. This unique venture, of writing out the Bible by hand, was promoted by the Portuguese Biblical Society. “Scriptoria” were set up in 22 Portuguese cities, where people were invited to copy verses of the Bible by hand “as was once done in the medieval monasteries”, explains the Ecclesia Alfredo Abreu agency, coordinator of the venture. So far 35,704 verses have been copied; the first were written by the President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio, others by some fifty leading personalities from public life and then by ordinary people. The destination of two of the three copies planned by the project has already been decided: one will go to the National Library in Lisbon, the other to the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. The final ceremony took place at Alfandega do Porto on 22 and 21 November. During the project a mini-survey was conducted on how many people really read the Bible and what bits they like best. According to a recent study of the Patriarchate of Lisbon, however, only 3% of those interviewed declared that they regularly read the Bible.
